The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-04-18
What vas the nature of tho way the
party passed the timer juror asked.

What vas the nature of the way the
! party passed the timer juror asked.
SHOOTING ALLIGAToRs.
! Those gentlemen who could shoot were
| firing at alligators on the river We were
all joking and having pleasant time"
! The witness was then croSs-e1amined as
! follows:
How many guns were there aboard"
"Who owned theml"
| ''As matter of fact 1 can't say, but this
| gun, which did the shooting, belonged to
Mr. Abrams
Had they been d1inkingm
well, yes, some, but no one showed any
effects Of It. Both of these men showed the
best Of feeling for each other
When Mr. Abrams took up the gun was it
| in a threatening or joking wayf'
In fun, as far as | could see"
Did be have any idea the gun was
loaded'"
Il can't say. l judged from the way he
acted afterward that he did not. He had
| loaned it TO Mr.. Fonda to shoot with in the
morning
Would a person in the habit of handling
guns know whether this one was elf-cock-
ing. and whether the cartridge shell had
been thrown out, and if it was loaded"
- can't say. for do not know anything
about guns. 1t must have been cooked,
though
ANOTHER WITNESS.
Mr.. Andrew Anderson, General Alexan-
| deT's private secretary, was next called He
said: I'VE left Savannah about 10 o'clock
this morning on the tug William c. Turner.
] When we got few miles below Tybee we
| stopped abreast of the steamboat Toccoa.
Which was aground and which the tug went
down to endeavOr to pail off. While the
| boat was anchored there waiting for high
/ u4a A,,,D ba IaII
| to the pilot-house He said to Mr., Abrams,
who was in the pilot-house, that he was
| coming up, or words TO that effect. To that
Mr. Abrams replied No you're not Both
were speaking loosely. About this time
Mr.. Abrams reached for his rife and pointed
it out of the window. II the gun had been
| fired then it would have shot good distance
off from the boat; that is, in the position in
which Nh: Abrams had it The boat gave
a lurch about that time the gun was dis
charged. l saw Mr.. Fonda fall to the
deck"
''Were you in the pilot houser' asked the
! Coroner
Eyes, sir the witness answered.
"Who else was there"
Judge Molina and the Captain"
THE SOLICITOR GENERALS QUESTIONS.
| Solicitor General Fleming G. duBignon,
who was present at the examination, asked
| the witness if the gun was discharged as the
boat lurched
at seemed 50 to me- sir"
"Was il rough there at the timer Juror
inquired
"No; and it was not perfectly smooth"
| What was the height from the floor in
| the pilot house to the bottom of the win
| down
About four feet His head was proba-
| bly, seven feet above the bottom of the win
dow when the gun went off,
did you see the gun picked upl
81 can't say | did. | saw Mr. Fonda
coming upstairs. He had both hands on the
! guard rail. The gun was pointing straight
| out When l saw the gun it was not pointed
at Mr. Fonda.
How many yards was the deceased from
the gunf'
Probably five feet"
'Were they on good terms"
BOTH MEN WERE FRIENDS.
| 'They seemed to be perfectly friendly
"Did you have the gun during the dayr'
Mr.. duBignon asked.
mo, sir.n
Coward which side did the boat lurchY'
asked juror.
Towards tho side from which the gun
was pointed
''Did Mr.. AbranlS know the deceased be-
fore to-dayP
"What was his motive in pointing the gun
out of the Window inquired another. juror.
II can't tell, am sure"
Had anybody been shooting at alliga-
torsn
"Yes; Mr.. Fonda and Mr. Abrams had
The deceased left the gun on the bench"
| WAS Mr.. Abrams hand OH the trigger
| when the gun went OFF,
Il don't know"
Capt. John F. Gaynor was sworn and
| said: 81 did not see the accident, being at
the stern of the boat at the time and | know
nothing OF how it occurred"
Mr. Anderson. on being recalled. said that
the person to whom he referred as Captain
was the man at the wheel, but upon reflect
| ing he thought that he was mistaken about
! the pilot being present as the boat was not
! running.
WANTED THE CAPTAINS STATEMENT.
| Juror Horton asked particularly about the
pilots whereabouts. Some of the other
| jurors did not think that was very material
| as the witness had stated that the Captain
was not present at the shooting
| Some words We're exchanged between the
| jurors, and for few seconds matters began
| to look rs if they would get TO scrappng.
The quarreling. however, was soto voce
and did not attract any attention except
among themselves and one or two were
sitting quite near. At about this point in
the testimony some of the jury thought
| they would like to see the rife with
which the shooting was done A
similar one was obtained from a neighbor-
ing office. The jurors looked at it,
but concluded that they must have the
weapon from which the fatal bullet was
fired. While it was being sent for Capt
Charles Sweeney. who had charge of the
tug, was put ON the stand He said
that he knew nothing of the shooting At
the time of the accident the tug was lying
at an anchor barge, and the witness stated
that he was aft, sitting down. There was
considerable sea, with the wind southeast
he added.
EXAMINING THE RIFLE.
in the course of a few minutes the rifle
was brought from the tug, which was lying
at the Exchange dock. The gun is hand
some repeating weapon and contained four
or five loaded cartridges. The crowd OF
spectators and the jury were little nervous
while the cartridges were being taken out
but when the rifle was empty they examined
it and cooked it, and went through the mo-
tion of firing it. As those who are
familiar with such guns know,
the loading and cooking are done by amoyc-
ment of the trigger guard, the same move
nent ejecting the empty she'll. Therefore,
when the movement which loads the gun
cocks il, and il seemed from the evidence that